"Over the past thirty years, an enormous amount of
research has been conducted into Mormon originsJoseph Smith's early
life, the Book of Mormon, the prophet's visions, and the restoration of
priesthood authority. Longtime LDS educator Grant H. Palmer suggests that
most Latter-day Saints remain unaware of the significance of these
discoveries, and he gives a brief survey for anyone who has ever wanted to
know more about these issues.

"He finds that much of what we take for granted as literal
history has been tailored over the years—slightly modified, added to, one
aspect emphasized over another—to the point that the original narratives
have been nearly lost. What was experienced as a spiritual or metaphysical
event, something from a different dimension, often has been refashioned as
if it were a physical, objective occurrence. This is not how the first
Saints interpreted these events. Historians who have looked closer at the
foundational stories and source documents have restored elements, including
a nineteenth-century world view, that have been misunderstood, if not
forgotten." (From back cover.)